On the eve of Patrick Ewing’s grand Garden return, Jeff Van Gundy called the Big Fella’ a champion without a championship.

“I’ve long believed you can’t define players by whether they won or didn’t win a championship,” Van Gundy said. “To me, he was a championship player because he did everything in his power to help the Knicks win a championship. Nobody will be able to convince me that those players who played with [Michael] Jordan are more of a champion because they played with greatness more than someone like Patrick.

“In [Ewing’s] prime, unfortunately, he ran into Jordan in his prime and [Hakeem] Olawuwon (’94 Finals) in his prime and he ran into an injury the other time he had a chance (’99 Finals),” Van Gundy added. “No fault of his own, we didn’t win, but I don’t think that diminishes what he did here at all. That’s what bothers me so much about the media. Doesn’t come up big in big spots? That’s a joke.”

Ewing did not win a championship in 15 years as a Knick. He did not sign many autographs for kids. He did not talk to reporters on game days or after most practices. He did not smile much or let enough people see his personality.

That said, Ewing deserves a hero’s welcome tonight in his first visit to the Garden since his Sept. 20th trade to Seattle.

No matter how poisonous it ended for him here, no matter how much he needed to go, Ewing deserves as mighty a homecoming ovation as any former New York athlete has received. If nothing else, Ewing put the Knicks back on the basketball map for two decades.

“We should show our love and appreciation when he’s introduced,” said recently-acquired Mark Jackson, a longtime Ewing friend. “When his name is introduced, we as New Yorkers owe it to him to shower him with an ovation. Show him love, but when the ball goes up in the air, it’s a regular game and we’ve got to suck it up.”

Van Gundy was amused that someone asked Ewing if he would cry. “Knowing him, he’s going to come out with the same game face,” Van Gundy said. “If he cries, I don’t see that. I see him bouncing the ball between his legs before the game, staring straight ahead, acknowledging no one, getting ready to play.”

No one is fooling themselves that the 38-year-old Ewing comes to the Garden tonight as a dominant player. Ewing’s best plays tonight will be found on the pregame-video scoreboard tribute. He has noticeably slipped this season, averaging career lows in points (9.2), rebounds (8.0) and minutes (26.6)

Ewing has accepted being a role player – something he refused to embrace as a Knick.

“He seems comfortable out there and gotten adjusted,” said Van Gundy, who has spoken to Ewing a half-dozen times this season. “Some people like him to be miserable out there, complaining to come back. Even if he did, he’d never say it. We should be happy he found happiness. I don’t know why everyone wants him to miss here. He and the Knicks made a decision together. That was the place he wanted to go.”

The notion the Knicks were better off keeping Ewing evaporated Nov. 14th in Seattle when Ewing’s heir apparent, Marcus Camby, obliterated the Big Fella, in scoring 20 points and grabbing 17 rebounds while Ewing had 10 points and nine boards. Camby was the only Knick not in awe as the Sonics rose up to win one for Patrick, 96-75.

“Time stands still for no one,” Van Gundy said of Ewing’s decline. “It’s the normal evolution of someone’s career. You can’t expect the same things out of him at his age after those injuries. I know he may at times, but certainly not the people that coached him.”

Van Gundy believes Ewing became a less efficient center not because of knee and Achilles injuries, but his shattered wrist from 1997.

“People totally underestimate [the wrist injury] because they don’t see it as a limp,” Van Gundy said. “The wrist injury changed his whole career. It took the best jump-shooting center of all time and changed his shot. It’s amazing he can shoot as well as he can.”

Camby, whose gathered 40 rebounds in the past two games, wore those orange-and-blue Ewing sneakers growing up in Hartford. This season, he was asked to fill Ewing’s real shoes and has done a commendable job. He has already dominated Ewing. Now he just wants to beat Ewing’s team.

“We lost the ballgame,” Camby said. “So we don’t look at individual stats, though if I don’t have a good game you’ll be killing me. I shined that night because everyone else played so poorly for us. I’m not going to make this into a personal issue. Everyone wants to talk about Patrick’s return. He wasn’t a major factor. We have to shut down Payton, Rashard Lewis, Vin Baker. The guys that gave us trouble last time.”

Van Gundy said “no part” of him wants to see Ewing have a big game tonight. “This isn’t like a scripted storybook, this is competition, we need to win,” Van Gundy said. “If he has a big game, our chances of winning is less.

“Other than Marcus out there we played a very, very sub-par game [in Seattle],” Van Gundy added. “Marcus was ready for the individual matchup of Patrick and our team was ill-prepared for Seattle’s enthusiasm from that game.”

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GARDEN GROANS AND GLORY (graphic)

Beginning on that fateful June day in 1985 when Dave DeBusschere and Knicks won first NBA Lottery, and ending last spring as Knickerbockers were eliminated from playoffs by Indiana, Patrick Ewing’s Big Apple career had its share of ups and downs. As New Yorkers prepare for Ewing’s return tonight with the Sonics, here’s a look at some of the Big Fella’s most memorable moments at Madison Square Garden:

Oct. 26, 1985 vs 76ers: Ewing makes his NBA and Madison Square Garden debut in a nationally televised game against Philadelphia. Scores 18 points (8-21), grabs six rebounds and records three blocks in 44 minutes in a 99-89 Knick loss.

May 12, 1990 vs Pistons: Registers a playoff career-high 45 points in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Detroit, a 111-103 Knickerbocker victory. The Pistons win the next two games and topple the Knicks, 4-1 in the series.

April 30, 1991 vs Bulls: The curse of Michael Jordan and the Bulls begins as Chicago wins 104-93, completing a three-game sweep of the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs. Jordan’s memorable facial over Ewing ranks as one of Big Fella’s lowest Knick moments.

June 5, 1994 vs Pacers: With Ewing as the catalyst, the Knicks reach the promised land for the first time since 1973. Patrick’s put back slam of a John Starks missed lay-up caps a 94-90 comeback win in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Ewing finished the game with 24 points and a career-playoff-high 22 rebounds.

May 21, 1995 vs Pacers: Despite posting 29 points and 14 rebounds, Ewing is stuck with the “goat” tag as he misses a wide open finger roll at the buzzer as the Knicks are eliminated in second round with 97-95 loss to the Pacers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

April 19, 1996 vs Hornets: Notches his first and only career triple-double in a 115-108 loss to Charlotte at the Garden. He finished the game with 28 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists.

June 2, 2000 vs Pacers: Concludes his 15-year run as a Knick with 18 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks as New York falls to the Pacers, 93-80 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.